The August 2010 McKinsey Quarterly chart focus argues that policy makers who hope that advanced “clean” technologies can create work on a large scale will probably be disappointed. These sectors are just too small to make an economy-wide difference, while local-business and household-services sectors are a much better bet for creating employment opportunity. How does New Hampshire compare?
According to a recent “Clean Energy Economy” study from the Pew Charitable Trusts, by 2007, 68,203 businesses in the United States had generated more than 770,000 jobs in the clean energy economy. In 2007 there were 465 clean industries and 4,029 clean jobs in New Hampshire.
Using a broader definition, there were about 16,800 “green” jobs in New Hampshire in the first quarter of 2007, according to the New Hampshire Economic and Labor Market Information Bureau.
The chart below compares the portion of clean and green jobs in New Hampshire, compared to some other sectors of the economy.
Of all the counties in New England, Hillsborough is among the best positioned to achieve growth in green industries. The county already has a 4.2 percent concentration of jobs that fit into the green job category – the highest in New Hampshire and well above the 3.2 percent national average. The average New Hampshire "green" job pays $54,400, the study showed, which is about 23 percent higher than the average job.
Clean and green economic development may be good for the environment, but even in New Hampshire those sectors may not produce many new jobs.
What an interesting read, thanks so much for the post! I wonder how many green jobs there are in NH from 2008 and on.
Posted by: Davis | August 23, 2010 at 10:33 AM